BWF World Championships: Vimal Kumar confident of Saina’s return – Saina Nehwal will be missing out on the World Championships for the first time in her stellar career. Suffering from niggles for the best part of two years, the London Olympics bronze medallist has a tough road in front of her. Nehwal’s former coach Vimal Kumar feels that the two-time Worlds medallist needs to heal fully before returning to court and that a fully-fit Saina Nehwal can still play and win laurels for the country. Follow BWF World Tour Finals and World Championships on InsideSport.IN.
“She should have used the COVID-19 break to heal completely. But since that has not been possible, she should take time off and try and recover fully. She is a fighter and I’m sure if all niggling worries dissipate, she will come back with a bang,” Vimal Kumar told InsideSport on Thursday.
BWF World Championships: Ex coach Vimal Kumar confident, Saina Nehwal will come back with a bang after injury forces her to withdraw from WC
For the first time in her career, former World No 1 Saina Nehwal had to withdraw from the World Championships due to a groin pull and knee injury. The World Championships silver and bronze besides eight quarterfinal finishes, is currently recovering from the injuries and hasn’t set a return date.
“Saina had to withdraw from World Championship as she is still recovering from the groin and a knee injury. She won’t be able to regain fitness in time to play the tournament,” Saina’s husband and fellow shuttler P Kashyap had told PTI.
BWF World Championships: Ex coach Vimal Kumar confident, Saina Nehwal will come back with a bang after injury forces her to withdraw from WC
Her former coach Vimal Kumar feels the last couple of years have not only taken a toll on her physically but also mentally. She returned to action at the Thomas and Uber Cup Final but had to retire midway through her round-robin match due to a groin niggle. She again withdrew midway into the second game of the first-round match at the French Open.
The coach’s advice for Saina Nehwal is to try and focus completely on recovery and return to court only when all persistent issues have been fixed. He also rued the fact that maybe the 31-year-old did not get the best possible treatment during the COVID-19 enforced break.
“When you keep suffering niggles, it becomes difficult to regain that feeling of playing freely on court. Also, due to one injury or the other, she lost to opponents she would normally beat. So that feeling of invincibility starts eroding,” Vimal Kumar said.
According to Kashyap, Saina is currently undergoing rehabilitation and will be able to get back to training from the 10th or 15th of this month.
BWF World Championships: Ex coach Vimal Kumar confident, Saina Nehwal will come back with a bang after injury forces her to withdraw from WC
Following a series of early exits, Saina’s current world ranking has also slumped to 23. The shuttler from Hyderabad claimed silver back in 2015 followed by a bronze two years later at Glasgow.
